Shifting Cultures

Shifting cultures again this morning.

Leaving behind city streets and familiar places.

Going to where the rows and rows of matching buildings live.

 

Shifting cultures again.

I know He's teaching me to do this more. Better. Easier.

It's jarring every time. 

Because I take it in deep.

Even for a morning, I enter and live among.

I soak it in... their way, their pace, their feel.

Everything is safe and clean and car-convenient.

Everything peaceful and perfect - on the outside.

But I know. I remember.

 

Inside, we are all hungry for the same God.

Longing for the same home far away from here.

Afraid of more than we care to admit.

Hurting more than we allow ourselves to feel.

Longing for love - unconditional and unwavering.

 

Wishing we were brave enough to let shoulders drop, put feet up, and trust.

Wishing we could get close without so much risk.

Wishing we could capture the beautiful moments and make them last forever.

Wishing we had it together. Or even better, that we could all admit to one another that we don't.

 

We wear different clothes, even different skin, live in different places, think differently, live differently.

Yet the deepest places, the quiet moments... they are the same.

We cry out for our Creator, longing for something better, Someone closer.

 

When we strip down to what is real, we are more alike than we could ever imagine.

So today, I want to see what is real.

To not be distracted by changing scenery and shifting cultures. 

To hone in with laser focus on the hearts of man and the throne of God.

 

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Hometown

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Where is my hometown?

My hometown is a journey.

A journey that I walked alone, with God in pursuit of me. He was nearer than I realized.

I could go on a pilgrimage and sew the pieces of my life together with car-thread and heart-stitches. But the pieces are not all in one place, waiting to welcome me when I return.

Where is my hometown?

I could pick a place I've lived so that I have an answer to your question. But it seems you are looking for something more, something that has deep meaning for you.

Something I do not have.

Is there a place out there where I feel like "one of the locals"? If there is, I haven't been there yet!

I still don't have a clue of how to raise a pig.
I still don't understand why suburbanites edge their lawns, or worse, put chemicals on them.
I still can't handle the sustained pace and intensity of 3 million people sharing such a small space.

I long for heaven, where I can be with my Father and with our whole family, glorifying Him in all our unique ways.

In the meantime, I am here.

Here,
in this city of roses and stumps,
coffee and natural beauty,
rain and weirdness,
I am growing roots.
 
 
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